By George! Who Do They Like the Best?

Princess Caroline and Prince George were primed to get along like oil and water, thanks to Lady Jersey. Let’s see what happens when they meet. Take it away Mr. Al.

It did not come as a shock to Lord Malmesbury that Princess Caroline’s behavior at dinner was everything he feared it would be. That didn’t make being embarrassed to within an inch of his life easier to suffer through. The Princess forgot every social rule dad had ordered her to memorize. According to His Lordship, the conversation of the Princess was “rattling, affecting raillery and wit, and throwing out vulgar hints about Lady Jersey, who was present.”

His Lordship may have been embarrassed, but Lady Jersey must have been delighted. It continued like that for the entire evening.  It isn’t clear wither the Princess realized she was digging herself a deep hole. If she was not aware of the effect of her behavior was having on others; she was the only one. The Prince was appalled. He did not like his soon to be wife one little bit.

Of course, that wouldn’t stop him from marrying her. That was business after all. Thank God Lady Jersey was on hand to comfort him and make Caroline’s life a living hell. It also must have comforted the Prince to know that, dad aside; no one in the family cared for the Princess.

This had an interesting effect on the Lesser Sorts. The logic of the Masses seemed to be if the Prince didn’t like her at all, she had to be doing something right. If the general public was not ready to love her, they were more than happy to sympathize and give her that benefit of a doubt. That was more than anyone around the Prince was willing to do.

Princess Caroline is one of the great “If Only’s” of history. If only she had been astute enough, mature enough, to realize how powerful public sympathy was. All of the Prince’s supporters were drawn from his own class. The People were prepared to take Princess Caroline to their collective bosom, so to speak.

She had a limited awareness of this phenomenon. One day, a crowd of people had gathered outside a house where the Prince and Princess were visiting. The Princess came to the window, made a short speech about the “brave English People-the best nation on Earth.” And “bowed exceedingly…till the Prince shut the window and made excuses of her being fatigued.” Princess Caroline simply didn’t have the political instinct to use her popularity with the Lesser Sorts to her advantage. The history of the British monarchy could have turned out VERY differently if she had.

And now, finally, all the players were in position. The Big Day was approaching and everyone’s mind was on the wedding. Almost everyone’s. One person, the Prince, was having a hard time focusing. Something was missing. Something was not right, and the Prince knew what it was. No Mrs. Fitzherbert. It seems the Prince felt some guilt over the way he handled the breakup. Or, more accurately, the way he let Lady Jersey handle it.

He knew, in his heart of hearts, that Mrs. Fitzherbert was blameless. There was no question of going back to her. Even if Lady Jersey were not in the picture, he was getting married now. Regardless of how he felt about his new bride, he could not go around telling people that Mrs. Fitzherbert was his real wife. And Lady Jersey was not about to let her back in as a mistress. Not that Mrs. Fitzherbert would ever agree to such an arrangement.

There was something the Prince could do for Mrs. Fitzherbert, and he did it. He settled an annual allowance for her of 3,000 pounds. He even extracted a promise from the King that the allowance would be paid to her in the event of his death. The fact was, most members of the Royal Family liked Mrs. Fitzherbert. She was probably the only restraining influence on the Prince that ever worked. When the two were physically together, he behaved himself. The King was grateful for that.

But as his wedding day drew near, the Prince began thinking of her more and more. On the eve of his wedding, he sent her a note telling her that she was the only woman he ever truly loved. It was probably true. She didn’t respond. She also refused to recognize Princess Caroline as the new Princess of Wales. The world may not have agreed, but as far as Mrs. Fitzherbert was concerned, she got there first. Princess Caroline was a barbarian at the gate.

And the Prince didn’t have the luxury of brooding about it because his Big Day was on him like a tornado in a trailer park.